


a speck of light can reignite the sun (and swallow darkness whole)

by cosmicenergy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 22:01:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5308520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicenergy/pseuds/cosmicenergy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At seventeen, Percy never assumed that his life would be consumed of anything other than swimming and late night study sessions locked in his room. However, his entire view changes once the world seems to turn against the human race and disease, famine, and chaos engulf the country. But Percy’s not one to give up so easily, and apparently neither is the blonde girl he teams up with. So when the opportunity survive announces itself to Percy and Annabeth, they don’t hesitate to take it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a speck of light can reignite the sun (and swallow darkness whole)

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was written for the [pjohoominibang](http://pjohoominibang.tumblr.com/)! I had the amazing pleasure of working with [María](http://hellevesque.tumblr.com/), who drew an amazing piece of fanart that goes along with this work!
> 
> I would also like to thank my amazing betas [Lily](http://leovaldelf.tumblr.com/) and [Rachel](http://somethingmorecreative1.tumblr.com/) for looking over this piece and giving me tons of great feedback. This piece wouldn't be the same without you guys

It was only eight o’clock in the morning, yet Percy felt as though he had been up for eternity. Day after day, time seemed to miraculously pass by slower, now that they were gone.

His parents had vanished one morning, leaving no traces of their departure. He didn’t quite know how to react when he woke up and found himself alone in their apartment; no note, no clues, _no anything_.

Because of this, Percy had no idea where they could be. It was practically useless to wait and see if they would return, so his next option was to head out of the safety of the apartment and look for them. He set off outside, even though there was a slim chance that he would actually find them. The streets of New York City were vacant; not a living soul dared to still roam the streets. Compared to the hustle and bustle the city normally was accustomed to, this was a drastic change.

That was two days ago, and after hours of endlessly roaming the deserted streets, the rational part of his brain decided any further searching was useless. If he were as smart as them, then he should have left the city when he knew he would have made it out alive.

But the irrational and beyond stubborn side argued that they could still be here. That they could be looking for him. So he stayed.

 

-

“Well, that was fucking pointless,” Percy sighed, taking one last defeated look around the deserted street. His only response was the wind as it whispered its way through the cracks in the sidewalk and holes in the abandoned buildings.

“Now what?” He asked, letting his hoarse voice echo through the empty world around him.

In hindsight, he hadn’t really thought this through very well. Not that he ever considered the slim possibility that he would still be alive at this very moment. After the last attack he managed to survive, he knew that they were getting restless. He also knew there were more of them than before.

He felt a jolt of pain as he turned to look behind him, a habit that he found himself quickly forming since he was on his own. Gently placing a hand on his stomach, he was almost positive he could feel the bruises forming underneath the thin fabric of his shirt. “Fucking wanderers,” he muttered before continuing down the street.

He had encountered them more times than he had would liked to. Their first meeting wasn’t all that bad; Percy managed to escape with minor scrapes and a bruise to his ego. However, the second time he hadn’t been so lucky. Fortunately, his only injury was a slash to his stomach; one that had quickly left a darkening bruise. After that, Percy tried to stay in the shadows and out of their path.

Wanderers. The heartless, soulless, undead creatures that roamed North America, created by a disease that the government claimed to “have under control.” Clearly, they had lied.

And because of them, this mess had been created. A widespread epidemic, quickly conquering most of North America before encroaching South America and creeping up into the most northern parts of Canada. Before the government had been completely shut down and news channels had still been up and running, Percy remembered sitting in his living room with his parents. They watched the news every night, desperately seeking out something positive from the situation. At the same time, they'd blindly ignored the moans coming from the streets and the cries of those perishing all around them.

As bad as that was, Percy preferred the noise over the eerie silence that had overtaken the streets of Manhattan.

So much had changed in such a short amount of time, and Percy had a bad feeling that things were going to continue to get worse. In that moment, he decided that staying in the city wasn’t an option anymore.

 _I need to leave_ , he thought, finally bringing himself to make up his mind. _But how?_

That was the next big task—managing to get himself out of the city in one piece. He looked around, eyes taking in every possible route of escape. “If only I had a car,” he thought aloud, turning the street corner to find an abandoned gas station.

Well, at first glance it looked abandoned. But as Percy approached it, he could begin to hear the faint moans coming from inside the store. His footsteps faltered, bringing him to a halt outside the building. Not wanting to approach the station, he opted for hiding behind a dirty, black jeep parked outside.

Yet the longer he stayed there, the louder the sounds from inside the store became. Soon enough, he could distinguish the moans of the wanderers from the cries of the humans left inside.

 _There are still people in there?_ He thought, instantly becoming on edge. Gripping the baseball bat he had found lying on the ground a few feet away, he cautiously waited. Nearly two seconds later, Percy watched the station’s door fly open, and in a flurry of activity he saw three people stumble out of it.

It was a mom and two young children. In an instant, the child had collapsed with a moan and Percy could see the bite marks on his ankle from his hiding spot behind the car. The second child was no better—she was on the ground merely seconds after the boy, who Percy assumed was her brother. The mother stumbled, sending herself flying to the ground, her long black hair forming a thick puddle around her head. Without thinking, he moved from behind the car and ran over to the fallen woman.

“Are you alright?” he rushed, dropping to his knees next to the lady. When she looked up at him her eyes were already glossy, coated with a gleam that said run.

“Here,” she managed to choke out, feebly thrusting something small into Percy’s hands. It was a black bag that was ripping at the seams.

“What—” Percy began before the woman let out an unearthly moan and collapsed against her children. Percy’s eyes widened, and he stumbled backwards. He was too late to help; the transformation had already begun.

He noticed that the bruises on his abdomen were darkening, but forcing himself to ignore it, he managed to pull himself into a sitting position. Without thinking, he glanced in the bag to find a pair of car keys and some other miscellaneous items strewn about. Grabbing the car keys, he groaned.

There was no way he was going to find the correct car in time. The fallen lady moaned again, this time only louder. She was gifted a response from inside the station; a loud, bellowing sound at least ten times the one she emitted.

Percy fumbled with the keys in his hand. They belonged to a jeep.

 _A jeep._ Percy’s eyes flickered back over to the black jeep. It was his best bet.

So he ran—past the broken door, past the shards of glass littering the pavement, and over to the black, probably broken, jeep in the corner of the lot.

“Come on,” Percy mumbled, simultaneously clicking the unlock button while attempting to yank the door open. He could hear the groans becoming increasingly louder behind him when finally managed to pry open the door. Without waiting a moment more, he threw himself inside and slammed the door shut.

Silence filled the air.

He took a gamble and glanced out the window, attempting to peer through the dirt-covered glass. In that moment, the gas station door sprung open, and a hoard of wanderers came toppling out.

“That's my cue,” Percy muttered, stuffing the keys into the ignition and slamming his foot down on the gas. The Jeep burst to life, engine roaring as it sped down the road. Percy rolled down the windows to hear the deranged cries of the wanderers getting softer and softer as he passed through one deserted street after another.

It was only when he had passed several blocks that he felt himself exhale a sigh of relief. But his calm was short-lived, and a second later he was overcome with an indescribable amount of guilt for the family he had left sprawled across the gas station’s parking lot.

 _Who were they?_ He wondered, shooting a guilty look down at the pouch thrown carelessly on the passenger’s seat.

It scared him to think that they were a family, with their own thoughts and feelings and memories and experiences that made their lives worth living. All of that had been destroyed in mere minutes.

Percy shook his head, desperately trying to clear out his unwanted thoughts. His efforts were useless because the more he tried to rid himself of these thoughts, the more they seemed to dig themselves into the crevices of his mind.

“Fuck,” he muttered, slowing the car to a stop, not giving a shit that he was in the middle of the road. “I should have helped them.”

_I could have saved them._

 

-

Time passed, and Percy lost track of how long he sat staring at his worn hands, gripping the edges of the tattered steering wheel as though they were his only source of life. _Who were they?_ He wondered for what seemed like the thousandth time. He found himself slowly unclenching the steering wheel and reaching towards the pouch in the passenger’s seat.

He fumbled with the zipper before peering cautiously into the bag. Many of the contents seemed to have fallen out during his mad dash to the Jeep while others lay scrambled across the car’s floor. Sifting through the leftover contents, Percy found himself pulling out an old, worn photograph. His fingers gently brushed across the picture; one that belonged to a happy, smiling, complete family.

He flipped the picture over, quickly discovering that the back was filled with messy handwriting in a foreign language that Percy couldn’t understand even if he tried. With some further investigation he concluded that it was written in Italian, which made sense when he compared it to the olive skin that the family in the photograph featured.

“Di Angelo,” he read aloud, eyes coming to a stop at the bottom of the paper. “Di Angelo… doesn’t that mean angel?” he sighed, blatantly ignoring the tears he felt welling up in his eyes.

There was no way, _no way_ , that this family deserved the fate that they were destined to. “They deserved to be angels,” Percy choked out, finally letting the tears drip down his cheeks. “They deserved so much more than this. And I could have saved them.”

He felt himself choke out a sob, vision blurring as he dropped the picture in his lap. Clutching his head in his hands, Percy slowly took in a deep breath. Just breathe, he thought. Relax.

_Inhale. Exhale. Repeat._

 

-

Before long, night had fallen over the city, casting its dark, ominous shadow over the empty skyscrapers and few lone souls who dared to still wander its streets.

Percy eventually decided to move the Jeep somewhere other than the middle of the road. He found himself parking in between two dark buildings, pointedly choosing to ignore the strange shadows that filled the alleyway. He checked the locks on the car doors not once, not twice, but three times before settling in for the night and trying to get some sleep.

 

-

The world, however, had other plans. That of which included sleeping for less than two hours and being abruptly woken up by screams of terror and loud crashes caused by the shattering of glass.

This was _not_ how Percy wanted his day to start out.

Nonetheless, Percy wiped the sleep from his eyes before starting the Jeep’s engine. Suddenly, the world outside the Jeep fell silent, and the only thing Percy could hear was the steady rumble of the engine.

_No turning back now._

Carefully, he slowly inched the Jeep forward, making sure his eyes skimmed across the horizon. So far, nothing looked too out of the ordinary (if this situation could even be considered remotely ordinary, that is).

Percy had never been more wrong.

As soon as he turned his head to the left, his eyes landed on a (Gaggle? Group? Gang? Percy didn’t have anything to call them other than downright terrifying) hoard of wanderers encroaching a building.

The building itself wasn’t too impressive. Standing only three floors high, it was pretty tame compared to the skyscrapers that towered around it. What caught Percy’s interest, aside from the crowd of wanderers, were the two people attempting to scale the side of the building. And from what Percy could see, they weren’t doing a very good job.

He watched them almost make it to the top when the highest one fell, grabbing the other one’s arm on the way down in a desperate attempt to avoid what would be sudden death. The second one grabbed onto a ledge, frantically attempting to hold them both up. Not again, Percy thought, acting purely on instinct when he sent the jeep into motion. _I’m not gonna let anyone else die on my watch_.

It seemed as if the world began to move in slow motion. The car seemed to slow down, no matter how hard Percy pressed on the gas. At the same time, his mind seemed to almost move faster; his train of thought was sent derailing, replaced by a lone concept instead. _Save them_.

But some people, Percy soon found out, couldn’t be saved.

It was a lost cause, really, because by the time Percy managed to reach the building, one had already fallen. He could see their short black hair waving in the wind as the body fell. He could hear the screams of the other person echo up the avenue, through the engine of the Jeep, and into the very soul that was possessing his body.

It was a sound that Percy couldn’t describe as anything but heartbreaking.

The wanderers seemed to be just as affected. They appeared to freeze in place as the screams fell silent and body landed on the ground with a sickening thud. Percy felt his eyes widening. He was too late again.

But there was still another person left on the building.

With adrenaline coursing through his veins (a side effect of the soul-wrenching scream, he supposed) he stepped on the gas, sending the car flying into motion. Heading directly towards the building, he turned at the last second to avoid ramming into the brick mortar that composed the building’s ancient walls. Instead of crashing into the building, the hood of the Jeep was greeted by the bodies of wanderer’s getting trampled as the car skidded to a halt.

In that same moment the other person, that Percy could now tell was a girl, had made her way back down the building. As he exited the Jeep, he could see the scrapes on her arms and hands were bloody but the look plastered across her face conveyed that they weren’t her main concern.

Her eyes were cast downward, hovering over the body crumpled in a heap in front of her feet. Percy could see the tears welling up in her eyes, trailing down her face, and dripping off her cheeks and onto the ground. The small puddle that formed seemed to swallow up her whole existence, making her appear smaller and detached from the rest of the world.

For the first time in his life, Percy was at a loss for words.

Silently, he took a step closer. Inch by inch, he slowly made his way into her field of view, breaking the unspoken barrier that had formed between them.

“She deserved better than this,” the girl finally muttered, lifting her hands up to cover her face.

She deserved better than this.

_They deserved better than this._

“Yeah,” Percy choked out suddenly, causing the girl’s head to snap up in his direction. “She did deserve so much better than this.”

The blonde girl sniffled, running a hand underneath her nose. “At least she won’t become one of _them_.” Percy nodded in agreement, unsure if she even acknowledged his movement.

 _The girl did have a point_ , Percy thought has he watched the girl bent down to kiss her friend on the forehead. He watched as she gently placed a hand over her friend’s lifeless eyes, making sure to close them one last time.

A few minutes of silence passed before Percy heard a faint rustling coming from behind him. The wanderers, he thought, quickly turning around. “Shit, we gotta go,” he finally said aloud, disrupting the girl from her mourning.

Her eyes glanced warily at Percy as if she was analyzing his every move.

“Hey,” he said, already turning away to walk towards the Jeep. “I know we just met and all, but I don’t really think you want to be stuck here all alone. Plus, I’ve got a car,” he said, gesturing to the jeep behind him. “You’re welcome to come with me,” he offered, before hopping inside.

The girl stared some more as Percy started the engine. “Okay,” she said quietly. If Percy wasn’t staring back at her he probably wouldn’t have even noticed her lips moving at all. He waited until she had shut the door behind her before starting the car and making sure to run over a few more wanderers on his way out.

They sat in a silence that Percy was becoming increasingly used to. And he hated it.

He used to love spending time talking with his friends; he remembered spending hours upon hours singing at the top of their lungs on the rides to and from swim meets and staying up until the early morning hours discussing their hopes and dreams and plans for the future.

Now, silence was becoming the only thing he could converse with.

“Hey,” Percy mumbled, keeping his eyes on the road. He could feel the girl shift her attention towards him. “Since we’re traveling together I guess it would be wise if you knew my name.”

“That would be slightly helpful seeing as I’ve been calling you Jeep Boy in my head for a while now.”

Percy cracked a smile. “I’m Percy,” he chuckled, glancing over at the girl. He could see the corners of her mouth peak upward ever so slightly.

“And I’m Annabeth. Annabeth Chase,” She replied, turning her attention back to the road.

_Well, that’s a start._

 

-

And so things kind of fell into a gentle, quiet rhythm after that. Days and days were mostly spent driving; Percy keeping his eye out for empty gas stations while Annabeth stared out the window, seeming lost in her own world.

Percy figured that it was her way of coping with the death of her friend, so he didn’t press. As they settled in every night Percy could practically feel the waves of sadness flowing out of her body.

He could tell something had broken inside of her, and with his whole heart he hoped that it could somehow be put back together.

 

-

Eventually, she opened up. Day by day, little by little, Percy uncovered more pieces to the puzzle that was the mysterious Annabeth Chase. It provided a good distraction from the lonely thoughts of his missing parents, too.

He learned she liked the color yellow, that she used to have a dog named Icarus, and that she had twin younger brothers.

(In response, Percy told her that he had been an only child, that his mom was an author, and that he had a collection of fish growing up that he used to swear he could talk to.)

He also discovered that she loved reading and that she had wanted to be an architect when she grew up.

(Percy loved swimming and had wanted to become a marine biologist.)

He eventually learned her dead friend’s name was Thalia, and that they had been best friends since they were seven.

(Percy recalled fond memories with his own childhood friend, Grover.)

 

-

After a few weeks, a few wanderer attacks, and general good old surviving, Percy dared to consider themselves friends. It was a stretch, really, seeing as they barely spoke, but Percy learned quickly that with Annabeth, actions spoke louder than words.

After weeks, they had finally reached New Jersey (or was it Rhode Island, or Connecticut? Percy had quickly learned that neither him nor Annabeth had any sense of direction whatsoever). Nonetheless, Percy was relieved to finally have gotten out of the confined streets of the city. And just by looking at the relaxed demeanor of Annabeth, he could tell she was too.

Night was beginning to fall as Percy pulled to the side of the road, drowsiness cascading over his body as he let out a giant yawn. Within seconds he could see Annabeth doing the same, and he let out a chuckle.

“Get some rest,” he said, looking over at her. “I’ll take first watch.”

She glared at him before rolling her eyes. “No, it’s fine. I’ll take first watch. You’re the one that has been driving all day anyway.”

He shot her a lazy smile. “Thanks, you’re the best.”

As he drifted off to sleep, Percy attempted to chase the image of Annabeth’s cheeks glowing red from his brain. (Clearly, he had done a fantastic job of doing so when he failed to fall asleep for the next hour.)

 

-

He awoke from a gentle hand tapping his shoulder. Cautiously peering out of one eye, he was instantly surprised to see that darkness still covered the horizon.

“Hey,” he yawned, glancing sleepily over at the girl next to him. He could just make out the edges of her face contorting into a small smile, one so slight that if he blinked he would have missed it.

“I hated to wake you up,” she began as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. “But you’re not the only one who needs their beauty sleep around here.”

Percy let out a laugh. To his surprise, Annabeth did too. It was a beautiful sound, and in all honestly, Percy probably shouldn’t have expected anything less. It was like a mixture of wind chimes and birds chirping and the gust of wind on a cool spring day. Percy was determined to hear that sound again.

“You have a nice laugh,” he blurted out, mentally cursing himself. “Sorry that was weird, you--”

“No,” she interrupted, causing Percy’s mouth to go dry. “Thank you. I haven't laughed like that in a long time.”

Percy smiled. “Me neither.”

“But you have,” she questioned, leaning back on the car seat. “You laugh all the time.”

“They’re not always real,” he grimaced, looking anywhere but her face. “But I do it because it helps hide the pain, you know?”

“Yeah,” she said, trailing off as she closed her eyes. “Can I tell you something?”

Percy nodded before realizing her eyes were shut. “Of course.”

Annabeth took in a deep breath. “I envy the dead sometimes,” she whispered, softly, as if she was embarrassed by the words leaving her mouth. “It would be so much easier to just not exist anymore than to exist in a world like this one.”

It was as if a weight had just been dropped onto Percy's’ chest and lifted off at the same time. His eyes widened as he turned to stare at the blonde girl next to him. After a few lengthy minutes of unbroken silence, Percy decided to speak.

“Hey,” he said softly, voice no louder than a whisper. “It’s not going to be easy, and I know that you know that. We’re in this together, so I can’t have you giving up on me like that. And besides, who would keep me company and listen to all my bad puns if you weren’t here?”

Annabeth cracked a smile. “Thank you,” she murmured.

 

-

As she slept, Percy discovered two things. One, that the sun rose pretty damn fast. Two, that Annabeth was actually really, _really_ pretty.

Not that he hadn’t noticed before, that is. It just hadn’t really occurred to him that this girl he was potentially stuck with for the rest of his life (however long that may be) was really fucking beautiful. But now, with nowhere to go and no one to talk to, he could take a good look at her face.

She looked peaceful when she slept, eyes closed gently and nose scrunched up in a cute way that reminded Percy of squished marshmallow (though the description kind of ruined the absolutely breathtaking image in front of him, Percy didn’t care).

Maybe in another lifetime, under different circumstances, they could have been something more than friends.

Or maybe, just maybe, if they got out of this alive, things could potentially work out that way as well.

 

-

But Percy never mentioned it. Not the morning when she woke up, not the next day, nor the day after that.

Percy promised himself that he would _never_ mention it. His main priority was surviving, potential romance could come later.

Or so he told himself.

 

-

And for the most part, his plan worked well. Aside from the underlying realization that Annabeth was literally a goddess disguised as a seventeen year old girl that hadn’t deserted Percy, yet.

But other than that, his plan worked out great.

Until it didn’t.

-

It all seemed to happen at once.

They appeared out of nowhere, crawling out from the roots of the trees and in between the overturned rocks and dirt. Some even seemed to drop down from the branches high up in the trees, landing with loud thuds on the roof of the Jeep.

They shattered the front window, sending shards of glass spilling over the two teens’ laps.

“Percy, move!” Annabeth shouted, slamming open the passenger side door. Percy didn't need to be told twice, quickly following her example.

“We need to move!” He shouted over the chaos, desperately attempting to make his way towards Annabeth. In the distance, he could see her fighting off two wanderers with a fallen branch she had picked up off the ground.

Even though she was totally capable of taking care of herself, Percy knew she couldn’t fight off all of them.

“Come on,” he yelled, dodging a few bodies before grabbing her arm. “We need to keep moving!”

“But the Jeep!” She responded, tripping a little in her attempts to follow Percy’s lead.

Without thinking Percy grabbed onto her hand and took off running, not bothering to even look behind them. Percy knew if he was to turn around, all he would see would be wanderers. And Percy was not into making the situation worse than it already was.

He felt a sharp pain in his side and let out a hiss, but his steps didn’t falter.

He didn’t know how long they ran, or how far away they had gotten, but they didn’t stop until their lungs were screaming for air and legs shaking from exhaustion.

“I think,” he began before taking in a huge breath of air. “I think we lost them.”

Annabeth nodded, too tired to do anything else.

Percy staggered backwards a bit, reaching out a tentative hand.

“Percy?” He heard before crumpling to the ground, landing in an uncomfortable heap. Pain engulfed his side as darkness overtook his vision and all his other senses faded to black.

 

-

His eyes slid open.

_Where was he?_

_What was going on?_

Everything came back to him as he felt two warm arms fling around his neck. He was greeted with a face full of blonde hair, arms full of a shaking girl, and an ear full of muffled sobs.

“Percy,” she croaked out, dampness spreading over the corner of his shirt.

She pulled away (much to Percy’s disappointment) and cupped his face in her hands. They were soft, he noted, before his was abruptly pulled forward and greeted with a pair of lips smashing against his own. Wincing slightly at the initial clacking of teeth, he was quickly engulfed with a warmth that could only be described as Annabeth.

“Oh, Percy,” she sobbed, pressing a few light kisses to his forehead. “I thought I lost you too.”

He felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes as he tentatively lifted his hands up to cup the sides of her face. He kissed her once more, making sure that she was actually real and that he wasn’t dreaming.

“It’s okay, Annabeth. _I’m here_.”


End file.
